Lagos Police Commissioner, Fatai Owosemi

Kazeem Ugbodaga.
The Lagos State Government has warned owners of uncompleted and abandoned buildings in the State to ensure that they expedite action towards the completion of such buildings or face sanctions in the eventuality that such buildings are occupied by miscreants or used for unlawful acts.

Speaking with newsmen after the State Security Council meeting, at the State House, Ikeja, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni, said the meeting discussed various issues regarding security situation, crime management, law enforcement and traffic management within the State and some other issues, with a way of finding lasting solution.

He said the meeting examined the security implication of uncompleted and abandoned buildings and the increase in the number of people that are illegally residing in so many of the uncompleted properties around estates in Lagos. “We’ve looked at areas where we are winning, areas where we need to make more efforts and especially at the security implication of the security implication of the influx of people into Lagos State in large numbers, the security implication of so many houses, uncompleted and abandoned buildings and the increase in the number of people that are getting into so many estates in Lagos,” Owoseni said.

While warning owners of abandoned buildings, he said government had resolved to enforce existing laws to the letter, and ensured that miscreants who utilised such uncompleted buildings to perpetrate unlawful activities were brought to book. He said some of such buildings which were usually residential were often converted into lounges and clubs across the State.

The Commissioner reiterated the determination of the Police to continue to arrest miscreants while conscious efforts would be made to engage and educate owners of such properties that employ some of them as security guards and who are not conscious of the security risk they constitute.
He also said that some of the owners of such abandoned properties were not aware that their properties are often used as safe haven after the illegal occupants must have committed crimes since they only employ one security guard who within a month may bring many others into the premises.

“Using those approaches, we should be able to reduce the unmitigated influx of miscreants in numbers as much as possible and get rid of them and also to make sure that they don’t cause any untoward incident for us in Lagos,” he said.